Recumbent Trikes

Some of my first memories are of riding my trike.  I always loved pedaling around and getting places.  For years I’ve tried to ride a bicycle and never felt comfortable.  Yet I persevered because my dream is to go biking on the carriage trails at Acadia.  There is an extensive network of well maintained gravel roads that runs through some of the finest scenery on the East Coast.  Walking those trails is fun, but they go for so many miles that biking or horseback riding are the best ways to travel.

Last winter I got a mountain bike thinking I’d finally be able to ride the trails.  This spring I started riding the bike in the yard.  I’ve been on bikes and can make them go, yet little disasters always wait right around the corner.  I fell off the mountain bike several times and gave myself various small injuries including mild whiplash.  At that rate, I’d likely kill myself out on gravel and paved roadways.  I also did not like the way riding a bike put so much pressure on my shoulders.  A rotator cuff tear that is inoperable has left me with constant pain that biking made worse.  So I started thinking about a more stable, comfortable vehicle.  I remembered how much fun I had as a kid on my trike.

A little research revealed a whole new world of pedaling to me.  Recumbent tricycles!  They are easy to use.  It feels like sitting back in a cozy chair.  The gearing allows for easy climbing of steep hills.  Bents, as enthusiasts call them, zip along at speeds that rival bikes.  They have been banned from competitive bicycle racing because they go faster.  I’m not particularly interested in flying along, just want to get out and enjoy the scenery.

We found and purchased two Terra Trikes and they are great!  All that pedaling is wonderful, low impact exercise.  I’ve only gone about 40 miles yet my legs feel stronger and my weight is down.  After a ride I get very hungry, another sign that considerable energy is being expended.

My husband, Tim, and I are conditioning for our first trip to ride the Acadia trails.  There are several good places to ride in our area, including the Passy Rail Trail in Belfast, where the photos of us on the trikes were taken, the Augusta Rail Trail that runs for about 6 miles along the Kennebec River and is beautiful, and the mile-long roadway at the Quarry Rd. rec center just a few miles from us.  We cruise up and down the Quarry Rd. several times to build up the miles.  Next week we set out for Acadia!

Bean Season

Here are the last of the fresh beans for this year.  We had them for dinner tonight.  Summer is coming to an end when bean season is finished.  I love wax string beans, their yellow goodness is mellow and buttery.  It is hard to find organic canned wax beans in the grocery store so every year I grow and can as many as possible to enjoy over the winter months.

Last year was a good bean year, I still have five pints left over.  In the past month I added twenty-two more pints.  I feel like a squirrel, storing food away for winter.  The little rodent must feel the same sort of contentment as I do looking at a full larder.  It will be a long winter, but the summery goodness of wax beans can be enjoyed on the most icy night in February.  When I eat them I remember the hours I spent in the garden planting, weeding and picking through heat and biting insects and threatening thunder storms.  A little bit of summer on my fork.

New Baby Angora

Last evening Gem arrived at the farm.  She is a 12 wk old fawn colored angora.  If all goes well, she will replace my lovely chocolate doe, Ruby, who died while giving birth last month. Gem is a fiber mix angora meaning she is not purebred.  She is a combination of French and German with English.  Fiber mix angoras are bred to produce the highest quality hair coat for fiber production. 

Gem received her first haircut a couple days before I bought her, so she is looking a little rough.  Her fiber should grow to 6″ or more and be easy to remove by hand when she sheds.  This bunny should also get to be a good size with her German blood.  I’m hoping she will produce lots of nice fiber and maybe some babies one day!  She is a very personable little bunny.  Her nature is inquisitive and friendly.  She comes right up to people and enjoys being held and groomed.

This bunny came from a crowded home.  She was in a cage with her mother and five brothers and sisters.  Now she is in isolation and may be feeling a bit lonely.  I have been spending extra time with her which she seems to appreciate.  It is likely she was not fed many fresh greens in her short life.  I have been slowly introducing her to various grasses, clover, dandelion and plantain.  She gobbles it all up!  When introducing new foods, especially fresh greens, it is important to limit the quantities to avoid any digestive upset.

Gem received her first grooming session from me and was very calm throughout.  She had a few small mats behind her ears and on her feet that clipped and brushed out easily.  The baby bunny didn’t struggle at all.  She seemed to like the feel of the slicker brush.  After grooming she was returned to her pen where she immediately began washing herself.

I will have to be careful opening her cage door.  Gem is ready and waiting to venture out to explore!  Here she is trying to escape.